Kam made it back to his dorm room. He tucked the bag with the dildo in his bottom desk drawer, walked into his in suite to brush his teeth, then climbed into bed.
As Kam lay curled on his side, sleep came faster than he thought it would. The cougar inside seemed to be calm now that Kam had accepted Henson was their mate. If Kam thought hard on it, he, too, was happy. It wasn't what he thought his life would be like, but was anything ever as a person planned? Great things happen when a person least expected it, and Kam was eager to see where this new detour in his life would take him.
Chapter Seven
PJ woke up feeling like shit. He felt as if he pushed Kam to hard the previous night. It was only a kiss, but PJ should have known better. Things between him and Kam needed to be taken slow.
PJ got out of bed, brushed his teeth, then grabbed a tank top and a pair of shorts. His mind was thick with worry and anticipation. A nice long run would help clear his head.
When PJ was offered the job at Hemsworth he immediately started looking at houses. The school had offered him one of the apartments on campus, but PJ needed his own space away from the place he worked at. As a coach he was at the college the majority of his day as it was. He needed a place that was all his own, where he could unwind. And lucky for him he found a three bedroom house on the outer edge of town. His backyard backed up to the woods that ran throughout Silver Creek and led to the college campus. PJ fell in love the moment he saw the house, but he also knew he had to be careful. Just because the dense woods were right out his back door didn't mean he didn't have to be mindful of humans. Grizzly bears weren't typically seen in this area, and if someone caught sight of him, people would panic and start hunting for bears.
PJ tied his shoes then took off running. He wound his way around town, then cut through the local walking trail that would bring him within two miles of his house. He pushed himself to go faster, to burn off all the excess sexual energy humming through him.
Once back at his house PJ showered and changed his clothes. He made a quick breakfast then headed out the door. He was having a meeting with a few of the coaches to discuss a couple of players hitting or lack of hitting. The season wouldn't start until after the winter break, but PJ liked to be prepared.
PJ parked his SUV then got out. He was looking down at his planner as he made his way toward the stadium that housed his office.
He glanced down at his watch to see he had a good twenty minutes until the others would arrive, so he detoured and headed toward the small coffee shop in the student center.
With coffee in hand, PJ headed back toward his office. It was a little cloudy today. The forecast called for rain so he needed to get the indoor facility set up for practice later that day. Just as he turned the corner Kam's sweet scent hooked PJ in the nose. He stopped and turned around, and what he saw nearly made him crush the foam cup with the hot coffee in his hand.
Kam was standing next to a bench with his leg hiked up on it talking to some girl. She had long, shiny brown hair and big doe eyes. She stared up at Kam as if he were a god. His anger spiked as he watched her reach out and rest her thin small hand on Kam's chest. PJ's eyes widened as he watched Kam cover her hand with his and laughed at whatever she was saying. Kam's head turned slightly to the side, and PJ's breath hitched as Kam made eye contact with him and smiled. Normally PJ would have heard every single fucking word his mate and the random girl touching Kam said, but he was so mad that the only sound he could hear was his blood pounding in his ears.
"That little shit." PJ gritted his teeth as he stomped over toward Kam and his little friend. He and Kam were mates. Did the kid not figure that out yet?
"Kline-Kemp," PJ said a little too loud. The girl dropped her hand and spun around to face him. "Don't you have practice to get ready for?"
It was a bullshit thing to say. Practice didn't start for another three hours but it was all PJ could think of to say.
"Did practice time change?" Kam stood to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. "Last I heard we weren't starting until one today." Kam flashed him a smile. "Is there a special practice only set up for me today, Coach?"
That cocky little shit. PJ wanted to wring his neck. Kam was playing with him. That kid didn't know what he was getting himself into.
The girl giggling behind Kam made the hairs on the back of PJ's neck stand on end. PJ wasn't one for sharing, and he wasn't above getting his name tattooed on Kam's fucking forehead if it warded off all the unwanted advances from women like this one.
"Who's this?" PJ asked in the most nonthreatening tone he could muster.
"Oh, this is Madison." Kam lifted his chin at the young lady then looked back at PJ and grinned. "We met in the cafeteria today. She's a fan of the baseball team. Asked if I'd go over the rules of the game with her, help her have a better understanding of the game."
PJ had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes and gagging. If she was such a fan as she claimed to be she would already know the rules of the fucking game. Were teenagers really this dumb?
Kam stood in front of PJ as if daring him to say something. And there were so many things PJ wanted to say. Kam was his and PJ would be fucked and feathered before he'd let his mate hang out alone with someone who clearly wanted to sleep with him.
"Kam, you ready?" Madison asked, pulling Kam's attention from him back to her.
"Yeah, sure." Kam put his hand on her slim back and walked away. "See you at practice coach!" Kam shouted over his shoulder.
"You're going to pay for this," PJ grumbled under his breath. Kam turned his head to look over his shoulder and winked at him, actually fucking winked. What the hell did that mean?
The sound of PJ's phone ringing had him looking away from his mate walking off with his arm around some random girl.
"What?" he snapped into the phone.
PJ turned and walked in the opposite direction from Kam and his little friend. He was running late to his meeting. He was pissed, but he'd deal with his mate later.
* * * *
The moment he was out of sight from Henson, Kam made up an excuse to get rid of Madison. She was a nice girl, and maybe a few weeks ago he'd been more receptive to her advances but not anymore. He guessed he was a one-man kind of man now.
Kam whistled as he walked back toward his dorm. He hadn't planned on teasing his mate the way he did, but fuck if the opportunity was too tempting not to. That was just the kind of person Kam was. He loved to joke around and tease his friends, so Henson was just going to have to get use to that.
The sky opened up and rain poured onto his head. Kam ran for the front door to his dormitory and rushed inside. Once in the safety of the building, he shook his head, flinging the water off him. A loud clap of thunder shook the windows and Kam turned just in time to see a flash of lightening cross the sky.
"I guess it'll be an indoor practice today." Kam took the stairs up to his room. As he made his way down the hallway, he pulled out his key. When he reached his room he saw that the door was cracked open just a tiny bit. That sight unsettled his cougar.
Kam sniffed the air, but all he could smell was stale food and dirty clothes. All dorms had the same smell. Kam pushed open the door and his mouth fell open in shock.
"Holy fuck!" Kam shouted.
His room was a mess. All his clothes had been pulled out of the drawers and flung around the room. The posters he'd hung on the walls had been ripped down. His bed had been flipped over, and the mirror in his bathroom had been shattered. It wasn't in terribly bad condition, but shit, someone trashed his fucking room!
"Whoa, man." Spencer stopped at his open door. "What the hell happened in here?" Spencer pushed some clothes out of the way and stood next to Kam. "You didn't do this did you?"
"What the fuck do you think?" Kam snapped, not meaning to be a dick but come on.
"Just making sure, bro." Spencer put a hand on his shoulder. "Was anything taken?"
Kam moved about the room looking but no, nothing had been taken. His sixty-inch flat-screen TV and Xbox were still there, lying on the floor probably broken, but still there.
"Doesn't look like it." Kam bent down to flip his mattress back over, then sat down on the bed. "Who would do something like this?"
"It could have been anyone." Spencer sat next to him. "But I have an idea who it might be."
"Who?" Kam looked over at the other man.